Thursday, June 30, 2011

I've been dissecting the unique items that I am using in the master bedroom all week. Today, I want to share the "HIS" nightstand.

I hadn't intended on doing a tutorial on this so there aren't any great tutorial photos. But I got so many nice complements from yall that I thought it'd be good to at least tell you how I put it together. I bought the barrel already cut in half at Cooper City Antique Mall.

When I flipped the barrel over to attach the casters, I noticed there was a lip. So I headed over to Home Depot and rummaged their miss-cut section. I got lucky and found some square blocks.

I drilled the blocks on the barrel then drilled the casters on the blocks. I used washers since the caster holes were too big for my screw head. I took a picture of the washers because I had intended on doing a post on what NOT to do. You see, during this entire master bedroom makeover, little things like this slowed down my progress. I already told you about about the nail-in-molding incident with the dresser. Oh, and Sun Kissed Husband throwing my chandelier parts away. Ok, moving on, moving on. This washer ended up working but I had to place it VERY carefully. If it had moved a hair while I was drilling then it would have fallen in and not do it's intended job.

Here's a close up of the casters in place and Cooper inspecting the new rolling thing coming into the house.

I wanted to still be able to store things in a somewhat organized manner (not just thrown into the barrel) so I kept one of the drawers of the previous nightstand and placed it inside. I gently pushed it down so it would be snug and not wobble.

Sun Kissed Husband uses a CPAP machine. The cut-out intended for a cork worked perfect for the cord and tubing.

I had bought the big clock from Target and it worked for about an hour. I meant to exchange it but didn't get to it right away and if you've ever returned anything at Target, you probably know that they have the worst return policy in the world. (Target, I love shopping at your store but your return policy is not customer friendly AT ALL!)

I have a problem letting things go (especially things I like) so I hung on to it for a while. Turned out it was the perfect circumference as the barrel. The cut out for the pendulum works great to be able to turn the CPAP machine on and off.

Before I moved it to the bedroom, I paired it with the loveseat to see how it would look as side table in a living room setting. Nice! As a coffee table would look cool too.

Goodness, this post was a lot longer than I planned! You still with me? You got how to make it? Did I miss anything? Feel free to e-mail or Sunny Note any questions you have.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Some trash curbside days are duds. But the days that I come across something like this little chandelier make up for it.

I gave you a sneak peak of this chandy (or at least a piece of it) when I told you about the 19-sided lightbulb.

Yep, I found the chandy with a lightbulb in tact. I didn't care for the brass and it needed rewiring but it was so adorable, I couldn't just leave it for bulk trash to pick it up.

First, I took it all apart and washed it in warm, sudsy water.

I spray painted the brass parts in white. (Tip: To keep little parts, like the little hooks that connect the crystals, from blowing while spray painting; it's a good idea to lay them down on the sticky side of painters tape.)

After I painstakingly took all of the hooks off and spray painted them, I laid them on the kitchen counter. Sun Kissed Husband thought they were garbage and threw them away. (I won't go much into this part because just thinking about it gets me mad all over again!) I went to the craft store and the largest rings I could find in the jewelry section were square, so I made do.

Yes, this part was time-consuming and it's what dragged this project along. Apparently the previous owner just cut it off so it needed to be rewired.

Here's what I used for that.

Tip: When taking things apart, with the intention of putting it back together, always take pictures of the original item. It had been a while since I got the chandy until I got to rewiring it. It helped to have pictures to refer back to to put the pieces together.

The switch that I purchased had directions in the back of the packaging. However, it takes me a while (sometimes reading several different directions) before I get things. If this is the case with you, you might find this tutorial helpful.

I covered the gold cord with this Christmas trim I purchased after the holidays at Joann's. I'm not sure what about this trim was Christmasy but the fact that it was considered a "Christmas" item meant it was 75% off. :)

It now hangs over my nightstand in the master bedroom. Click here if you missed that post.Here are some gratuitous shots just because I like the shimmery!

I wonder what other kind of chandelier I can score off the trash next?

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Thank you all for your nice comments about my Master Bedroom reveal yesterday. Christmas lights and wine barrels are not everyone's cup of tea so I do appreciate your sweet Sunny Notes.

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I am constantly changing my mind about how I want things to look in my home. I can't afford to by new furniture every time I do, so the next best thing to do is to paint. Paint can transform the look of any room or any piece.

It is a good idea to label the drawers while you are taking them out to be painted that way you know where each one goes. Turns out that some dressers have drawers that are made to fit in the space. This is no big deal if you are just painting the dresser one color. If the drawer doesn't fit correctly, you can just take it out and try it in another slot. However, if you are doing a "puzzle piece decoupage", it will make a difference.

I used some of the same knobs just spray painted with RustOleum's oil rubbed bronze.

The knobs and faux key locks came from curbside dressers. I couldn't use the dressers but I liked the knobs so I screwed them off and brought them home for future use. The future came calling for this dresser.

This dresser plays double duty as it's also an entertainment center. For the satellite box, I used the top drawer that came with the dresser. I hammered out the drawer front, painted the inside, and drilled holes to run the cords.

Tip #1: Drill holes before painting the drawer.Tip #2: Start drilling from the front side(the side that people will see). See the hole on the left? It's chipped and unfinished. That's what happens when you start drilling from the back side. Tip #3: Your life will be a lot easier if you remember to take the previously drilled wood out before going on to drill a second hole.

After I slid the drawer back in place, I covered the gaps with molding.

Hammering the molding in should work. However, I am the worst hammerer. My nails always go in crooked or I hammer on the wood instead of the nail. So I ended up screwing the molding on. My point is, do what makes you curse less.I felt the dresser needed some umph, so I grabbed flowery fabric and cut it to shape.

I placed the fabric where I wanted it to go and eyeballed where I wanted to cut to make it puzzle-like. I applied a coat of Mod Podge on the dresser and placed my biggest piece down. I repeated this procedure on the connecting pieces. After it was all dried, I coated the fabric with Mod Podge.Once more, here's my pretty little redone dresser.

Looks like a completely different piece, don't you think? Are you ready to customize YOUR dresser?!